As a Formula 1 fan, hearing Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone's names mentioned immediately turned this into the crossover episode from hell. You would have to be pretty desperate to consider their involvement in any sort of business operation. As a football fan, I am also now forced to remember the 0-0 draw between Reading and QPR that saw them both relegated that season. It remains the worst game of football I've ever seen, with both teams seemingly resigned to their fates and not even trying to score.

"QPR suffered a collapse which was so abysmal that Tony Fernandez tried to sign it." My condolences to QPR fans! Thank you for taking the time to acknowledge newer football fans and to explain something basic. It's often difficult for people to learn about a sport they want to be interested in because most channels are aimed at experienced fans/knowledgeable viewers. Thanks for the video!

2014 bankrupted Caterham F1 team 2015 QPR got relegated and never returned ever since Spot the similarities

As a football fan from outside Britain (and Europe) the only two reasons why I even know about QPR's existence is Aguero's goal with Martin Tyler's classic and Taarabt. Never imagined they ever had such financial commitments.

Got abit of a funny story with QPR... So my Uncle was diagnosed with Cancer with a very low rate of recovery and he was never a 'Football Guy' but for some reason he became Obsessed with QPR, starting to buy their merchandise and go to home/away games regularly, bear in mind he's from Sheffield, so he really committed to QPR. I always wondered, wtf made him choose QPR. One day I meet him face to face and he told me well it's my local team 'Rangers'. It clicked on me, he was born in Glasgow, the guy was supporting the wrong Rangers all this time!! 😂😂😂 I saw his face break in halve when I broke that news to him 😆 it's like I stole his soul from him, felt gutted for him 😅 Anyways, he's still going to this day, although he now supports Glasgow Rangers. He says anger towards QPR performance keeps him alive 😂😂

7:48 For any football fans not familiar with Briatore's race-fixing scandal: at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds told Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr to crash deliberately. The resulting safety car period played into the hands of Renault's other driver, Fernando Alonso, and allowed him to win the race. it also arguably decided the championship, as when race leader Felipe Massa pitted under the safety car, he drove off with the fuel hose still attached and was forced to retire from the race - he went on to lose the title by one point. Incidentally, neither Briatore or Symonds received any real punishment - their lifetime bans were swiftly overturned on appeal and they both now actually work for Formula One (Symonds as chief technical officer and Briatore as an ambassador). I feel like that says a lot about Formula One, actually.

Now granted this was a bad period for QPR fans, but for me personally I had an excellent Ultimate Team on FIFA 13 as a result of their transfer business

What doesn't get spoken about enough is Barton's dismissal in that Man City game. Barton's a hot head (to put it incredibly politely), but I have always thought he went way over the top - even by his own standards. I have always wondered if something was going on behind the scenes to ensure Manchester City - of which Barton was a former player of - won that day. And it always starts with Barton.

as a Malaysian, I sincerely apologize to all QPR supporters for the existence of Tony Fernandes

As a QPR fan, these were the best years of QPR in terms of sheer drama. Day by day we'd find some new and unbelievable news, like the gunman attacking the new director Paladini before kick off in 2005. And who was it pointing the gun? Only the QPR director (another one) David Morris, who was charged with blackmailing. And we had Ian Holloway for some light relief on the sidelines. Had us fans in stitches with his unorthodox interviews. I miss these times.

I’m so happy he’s finally made a what the hell is going at QPR video, it’s about time someone shed light on the turmoil at our club

QPR and Malaga have dominated the stories during the 2012/13. Unlike QPR, Malaga had a good run in La Liga 2011/12, where they finished fourth and qualified for the next season of the Champions League, at which they were only narrowly eliminated by eventual finalist Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinals. However, UEFA banned the club because of FFP breaches, thus starting a big crisis for Andalucians, where they were relegated to La Liga 2 in 2017/18, and now in Primera Division RFEF (3rd tier of Spanish football). Also, QPR had even went to Indonesia during the preseason friendlies against Persebaya Surabaya in 2012, which gained a positive receptions for Indonesian football fans.

The Fact that you didn't even mention how we received the biggest fine in FFP History for these actions caused by the owners and board sums up how incredibly bad it was during that period.

Not only was there Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore involved in QPR at this time from an F1 pov, Tony Fernandes owned the Lotus/Caterham team when he took over QPR until 2014 when he sold it mid-season (the team folded at the end of the season and in fact had only made it to the final round thanks to crowdfunding, having missed the previous two races due to being placed in administration). Meanwhile also involved the initial 2007 takeover was also Alejandro Agag, who at the time ran the Addax team in GP2, and who would go on to found the Formula E championship.

The only reason why I know QPR exists is because I’m Malaysian and it was made a huge story when Tony Fernandes took over the club. Was a bit funny to see how mismanaged it was but it makes sense seeing how air Asia is struggling and still owes me 500 ringgit of credit for a flight plan they cancelled

As an American who really started investing his time in football in about 2011… I can’t get enough of these history lessons, had only a small understanding of the corruption at QPR… fantastic content, looking forward to the next one.

The worst thing about this period was the time that preceded it. I remember losing to Cardiff in 2003 and the joy of 2004. The subsequent years in the Championship felt never-ending, and we were always either mid-table or, when we did finish low, it was due to a late-season collapse when safety had been pretty much guaranteed. When the Mittals and the F1 guys came in, it felt like we were really going to kick on, and people like me (90s babies) would get to experience the years that our parents and so on told us about. There was a genuine hope that, finally, we would have a top team in our little area. (For the record: Shepherd's Bush might be fancy now, but that's a new development. It used to be deprived and where all the Irish immigrants landed. My grandparents had a house they bought there for £16k when £16k was maybe twice the average annual salary. That same house recently sold for nearly £2m, but there are plenty of people in the area who just stayed). The fact that it was so poorly managed, and that our owners couldn't see what the fans could was just the worst feeling. I've never known QPR fans to be as despondent as the season after the Play-Offs: we knew we wouldn't stay up. We hoped, but we knew. And we also knew we wouldn't be coming back up for a while. Hopefully the person who bought out Fernandes is a bit more savvy, and it might be the case that we make some decent signings and GA gets to play in his style. A lot of the fans are ready to write him off, but he did well at Wycombe on a shoestring and I think he can do the same with us, especially considering how much he cares for the club. One thing I do know: no other team in London does more for the local community. Loftus Rd has only ever been known as that or 'The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium'. They hosted the Game for Grenfell, free of charge. They play a poem read by Dean McKee before every game (he was a local lad who succumbed to COVID). Albert Adomah is from the area and ALWAYS stays behind to speak to the fans, as do many of the other lads. There's more of a team spirit now than there was in the Prem years. Hopefully that translates to safety and stability on the pitch. COYRs.

I know I'm not the only QPR fan who has genuinely almost wiped these years from my memory... Helps that we had a terrible new badge for the same period, so almost feels like a different club

Briatore did not resign from the F1 team he received a lifetime ban from F1 due to his part in getting Nelson Piquet Jnr to crash in the Singapore GP which allowed his team mate (Alonso) to win the race as he had already done his pitstop. The ban has been lifted as Briatore has appeared on the F1 grid a number of times.

They signed Christopher Samba for £15m in the January transfer window. Poor guy was unfit as the Russian season was on its 3 month winter break. Ridiculous signing by Harry Redknapp. Samba got thrown under the bus as he clearly wasn't ready to play. The whole dressing room was a mess due to the huge difference in wages between the majority of players and the new signings. Also never give Mark Hughes money to sign players as he wastes it every time.

Aa a QPR fan, it was a very odd time. We're really paying for these ridiculous decisions now as we're broke and dead certs to go down.

Don't forget Redknapp also killed Portsmouth while doing the same thing for the FA Cup

Oh!!!Yeah good friend,Queens Park Rangers during the early 2010's when they were in the Premier League but as one of the real respective smaller teams,they did spend huge in the transfer market during their time in the league but signed many massively dud players which was a mistake in their part which made them relegated during the 2012/2013 season,good friends!!!🙏

My favorite part of the documentary is when Bernie comes into the dressing room at half time of a game and feels the need to complain that they are spending too much money on lucozade for the players.

Even thinking back, I forgot just how... Almost naive QPR and Fernandes were in that time. For those unaware or just game for an additional giggle, Fernandes was also involved with F1 during this time as well, having been behind the 2010 Lotus team that would eventually become Team Lotus (Once the original car makers pulled support and instead invested into Briatore's old team, leading to... um... Two Lotus teams on the F1 grid for the 2011 season, who both used the same engine supplier just to make it even more confusing) before changing to Caterham once Fernandes bought the company, before that team folded after the 2014 season due to the money running out. It takes a special kind of mindset to try and compete in both Formula 1 and the English Premier League at the same time by throwing Far too much money at both at once with nothing to show for it, so... Tony's ambition I cautiously commend, even if he really should have picked just the one of the two.

Thankfully Luton are not following this obscene model. Their business has been very sensible this summer: young players, no egos, players with a point to prove and not smashing their own wage structure at the club. Luton with Gary Sweet have been the best run club in the football league since their return.

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 529) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

Between Derby, Aston Villa, Sunderland, West Brom, West Ham, and QPR, their relegation goes beyond simply just not getting results. There were outright poisonous elements at all of these clubs with a particular similarity in aging players with an overall disinterest in the club. Oh yeah, ridiculous salaries too! More than this though, I think it typically tends to prove that some of the worst relegations in premier league history nearly always have their seeds sewn years before it happens.

James Lawrence Allcott has entered the chat

QPR is the favorite team for a close family friend of ours. I still remember watching them during the inaugural EPL season with the likes of Les Ferdinand in their team.

I have watched many of your videos and am very impressed: you share knowledge in a brilliant way, so hats off to you.

Being a Londoner and supporter of a London club (Arsenal), I always want other London clubs not called Spurs or Chelsea to do well and so I really feel for QPR fans - that said, sadly I have them down as getting relegated

As someone with family who are QPR fans this club just makes me sad, I always hope to see them go back up and when they get close they just collapse, for example being in first last year at one point and being in 3rd place in 21/22 season with over half the season gone. QPR will always have a special place in my heart but I fear this year is bound for relegation and might be the beginning of the end

QPR making Watford look like stable employers 😊😊

Great video keep it up you're doing amazing things 😁👍

Great video Alfie spot on about everything as a QPR fan that has been going since 95 I’ve been touched by that video - had to rub salt in the wound with BFC ! But true we could of been a comfortable Prem team. 😊

I feel something is off about Harry Redknapp, he did untold damage to my club Birmingham City that I think we are only about getting out of

Nice video, you did miss one part of Fernandez insanity - he (QPR) spent millions trying to get planning permission for the new stadium on land owned by Car Giant, who hated QPR having been stitched up by Briatore & Eccleston, and would NEVER sell the land to them. As a season ticket holder I had a first hand look at this catastrophe and the un mentioned disaster that the subsequent years have been, all part of football’s dysfunctional rollercoaster.

Excellent video. I loved the Four Year Plan from the first time I watched it, in that "can't look away from a car accident" sort of way.

In tony fernandez we trust 😂😂 now everyone can send a PL team into the Championships...

As a lifelong QPR fan I have to say this is spot on and very worrying. Fernades has gone but the running of the club remains a shambles with no money, no strategy and no apparent commitment from the majority of the players. I can't see us staying up as we have a Manager who only knows hoofball which is a real pity considering the high regard he was held as a player. QPR used to be known for attractive football and home grown talent, or taking players from lower divisions and turning them into diamonds who were then sold on. We have very little coming through the academy and are struggling to get in anyone of a young age to mould into the stars of the future. Continuing on this trajectory I give the club I love 5 - 6 years before we fade into oblivion.

26:18 Michu's 2nd Goal was a work of art. He could have slid it into the bottom corner or hammered it to the side of the Keeper BUT NO he arced it supercoolly into the Top Corner and a Star Was Born (for 2 Seasons). I think MOTD had that game on first which is rare for Swansea but it was a total dismantling of everything QPR stood for.

Alfie! Please read this comment With all the attention on al hilal atm, I think it’s time to look at the time they lost the AFC champions league to western Sydney Wanderers (a small Australian team only formed 2 years prior) one of modern footballs great underdog wins. Would love to help you with research, many interesting aspects of the story including a fan crashing into wanderers team bus before a game, fans keeping players up all night and Marcelo Lippy getting red carded

As someone who has a soft spot for QPR, I hope they can eventually move on from this and get promoted again. They're a bit like Forest in the 2000's doldrums (the team I support along with Spurs)

Thank you for this video man, hopefully the R’s can thrive once again

I'm begging people with the surname Hunt to stop naming their children Michael.

This should be turned into a TV series.

Can you make a video about the rivalry of Brighton owner Tony Bloom and Brentford owner Mathew Bentham. Love the content

I remember just how awful most of their signings were, simply abysmal. It's like they didn't do any scouting at all.

Off to buy a club now thanks for all the tips Alfie 👍

It's incredible how wrong things went at QPR that year. Honestly wages aside, in a footballing sense, one of the big surprises is how many of the signings seemed reasonable but dramatically backfired/disappointed like Park Ji Sung from Man Utd. At just 29, QPR villain Bosingwa, had played 11 matches in the UCL for Chelsea the previous season, and then just fell off a complete cliff, it’s astonishing stuff. Some was perhaps down to bad luck, some blame surely falls on the poor recruitment of albatrosses like Samba and other recruits clearly over the hill, but there was actually some good if overpaid player recruitment done as well (Cesar, Remy, Townsend, Jenas even?). Really you have to mainly pin the failure on transient/mercenary club culture and a complete utter lack of team chemistry that year. Oh to have been a fly on the wall of that dressing room, a hypothetical follow-up "4 year plan" type club documentary of that season would have been Sunderland-til-I-die levels of spectacle. The following 13-14 championship season with a number of the flops loaned out, released or sold... QPR came right back up and with a number of those 11-12/12-13 signings contributing. Football is fickle. QPR will surely go down as one of the most weird case of "premier league proven" players failing to pay off for anyone other than the players exorbitant wages.

That sigh at 8:39 makes the whole video worth it Cheers from USA love your videos

I am late to the party but I finally feel like my prayers have been answered. Thank you so much Alfie for covering QPR and frankly taking me by surprise by showing how messy things were behind the scenes. It really made me realize "Tony Fernandes ran so that Ed Woodward and Josep Bartomeu could walk" Love from an Indian who isn't Laxmi Mittal

4:30 Which parents by the name of Hunt would name their son Mike? Seems cruel, no wonder he turned out the way he did.

Good video Alfie. Another 15-20 minutes and this could have been a good BBC documentary

Honestly, when you consider that all of the main players involved in owning & running QPR had little to no experience & knowledge about Football (besides being problematic in many other areas), its no surprise that things have turned out the way they did.

Used to be my local side 87-96. Even got free tickets at school to go and watch when they were in the 1st division. Very sad to watch as they hold a soft spot in my heart. My club - Bradford City were rumoured to be a takeover target of giani paladini in about 2015. Glad we dodged that bullet, but still eventually got a crazy owner of our own and now have mark hughes as manager. All the best for the season R’s

HITC can you do a video on the whole situation with Cardiff and Nantes? I feel like its a topic you would be able to cover quite well

I gleefully just forwarded this to my QPR supporting pal.

That burn on AFTV's Ty tho 😂😂😂😂

I love a lot of HITC Sevens videos but this may be the greatest script Alfie has ever achieved. So many brilliant gags riffing off pure insanity from the world of football.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 also took a knock to Tony Fernandes’ finances… as a QPR fan, I have to say that he was a little clueless when it came to transfers, but Mark Hughes was the real poison at the club that season. The core of the team that came up in 2010-11 was absolutely gutted, with real team players like Jamie Mackie, Shaun Derry and Paddy Kenny cast aside for absolute mercenaries! Hughes was never the right man for the job

I didn't know Bernie Eccleston was cooking like that back then. Guess he isn't all that bad

would love to see one of these on west ham, the antics my club has gone through in the past 6 months is staggering. from lifting silverware to not making any signings after getting 100M for Rice. I hate to say it but we’re surely one of the top candidates for the drop this season

Imagine taking a loan from a company called ABC Corporation located in Panama. Doesn't sound dodgy in the slightest....😅

Oh...saw the title and thought this was going to be an expose on my club Everton.

Mittal also once owned a stake in a steel mill in Romania which was notorious for using crude poisons, violence and other medieval methods to dispose of the 'nuisance' stray dog population. (Source = I work for a UK/Romanian animal welfare charity) Same bloke who spent millions of pounds for his daughter to get married at the palace of Versailles.

This video was inevitable. It's not fun to watch but I'll accept it given how much I've enjoyed your similar analyses of other clubs' misasventures. One thing I will say though is that a board who will back the manager fully, deliver whatever signings he wants and trust him is a great board to have. The manager (especially Hughes, but also Redknapp) has to take a lot of the responsibility.

An arsenal fan my whole life but QPR does hold a special place in my heart. Where's my shepherds bush/white city people at??

they may have been shocking on the pitch, but that QPR team was a beast on Fifa 13 😆

I cannot wait for a future video about Forest Green Rovers. They are doing a Rushden and Diamonds in my opinion.

QPR spunked a hell of a lot but Eccleston becoming a dad aged 92 ?

I was searching on KZfaq for stuff about QPR's demise only the other day and now here's the GOAT answering my prayers. like to think I willed this into existence somehow.

Used to live near Joey Barton, up in Widnes, Cheshire - he kept that house when he played for QPR and it was his registered postal address. We would occasionally get his Mail and once got his payslip. My mother had an annoying habit of opening all Mail without looking at the name on it. Frustrating enough when she opened my mail, but she once’s opened one of Barton’s payslips. He was on £80,000 per MONTH. Food & drink was taken off, as well as laundry iirc, but he was still getting a fuckload of money off them. Can’t remember if they were still in the Premier League at that point, though.

Thanks for making this, felt inevitable a video like this was coming the past few months. Arguably the 13-14 Championship season and 14-15 PL season were even more odd in a way.

been waiting for this video, its genuinly so frustrating as a qpr fan knowing where we SHOULD be now even with mediocre management. but no, its been arguably the worst period for a club in english football(in comparison to expectations) and last season especially, top of the league to relegation scrap, if we go down this year i dont see us returning to champ or prem level for at least until my future kids have kids. feel bad for my son will have to support a league 1 mid table club😭

Crime never pays. Unless you’re rich since chances are you broke the law to get rich and/or stay rich. Then crime pays incredibly well

"Only 3 teams..." **shows Danny Ric** I am not prepared. But hey, at least that's the only F1 ref-- **mentions Flav and Bernie** Oh for fuck's sake...

I know a lot off people are slagging Tony Fernandez off, but that dude wanted to try and make qpr better then they were. And this message hits with qpr fans.

We did not spend twice as much as City? We spent £44 million across both windows in 12-13, City spent £52 million.

I'm an Oxford United fan...someone has to be... it was only a friendly the other day but we trounced QPR 5-0...how bad must you be to lose 5-0 to Oxford United ?...oh and there was the 1986 League Cup Final...the closest QPR have ever come to a 'major' domestic trophy...losing 3-0 to Oxford...we were actually pretty good during those short-lived times. Does anyone remember Mighty Mouse from Roy of the Rovers ? I recall the time his ragtag hospital time were preparing to play QPR...but it turned out to be Quality Pies and Rissoles.

Can’t believe Josh pushed the button for Oppenheimer’s bomb 🤣

I remember QPR as that team who lost to Vauxhall Motors 20 years ago. I wondered what could be worse. I see now!

I’d love to hear a 7 best football league managers since premier league breakaway, would be a niche one though

Excellent video.

Have you made a best xi of papa johns paint trophy winners? Could be active or all time

As a fan of qpr. It's so sad to see what we have become now looking back at this time

This video has been good as usual, but I'm left wondering if Michael Hunt had a really hard childhood.

good work Alfie

Warnock is set to take the Terriers up this year, you heard it here first Great value on Hudds up / Leeds down double at the bookies

Part of this movie when Paulo Sousa said about loyality was very popular in Poland.

“For those of you unfamiliar with football, that’s all the positions” 😂 your wit is unmatched

Bernie Ecclestone, Flavio Briatore and Tony Fernandes are three names that cause post-traumatic flashbacks to any F1 fan

You left out my favourite Bernie Ecclestone fact - His daughter did not know that toast was cooked bread.

Still wish Adel Taraabt lived up to his expectations he was a baller

I might be South African but I have been Rs fan since the mid 70s, and it saddens me to see their current situation. Tony Fernandez may have had good intentions, but as they say in the classics the road to hell is paved with good intentions The club is a basket case and a lot of us are expecting the club to go down to L1 when the season is over. I have no words to say about Mark Hughes. Meanwhile, Brentford and Fulham are laughing at us. What a sic joke

This is the best show on the internet 🤩 love your work sir wish sky had u on instead of fd people

Can you make a video about Blackburn Rovers with the owners not being able to spend money on foreign businesses and the downfall of us with the likes of jerome anderson being at the club

Video idea: 7 most common set pieces in association football right now.

I’m not as persistent as Balham or the Indonesia guy, but I’d still like to see you do a video on Polish champions Raków Częstochowa 🇵🇱, maybe upon seeing which European group stage they play in this year? Maybe also Truro City, who’ve been trying to build a stadium in Cornwall for years, and go on a journey to Cornwall, an uncommon football journey destination.